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21/08/2013

The Tripods Season 1 Episodes 5 -7

Episode 5:
This week we’re in a region of France where the people speak like that bloke
from Allo Allo. Anyone would think
they weren’t French at all! Anyway, this family they like Will, perhaps
mistaking him to be Paul McCartney so he gets to sleep in a grand bedroom while
Beanpole and Henry slum it with the estate workers. Beanpole, being also
French, metaphorically shrugs and takes it in his stride but Henry has a very
grumpy time muttering under his breath as if the actor realises how many more
weeks of this there is to go through. Somehow I know exactly how he feels about
this.

"Where's Ringo?"

The
Count seems to be beyond the law of the Tripods (who incidentally we don’t see
at all this week) telling the police instead about the law of the chateau which
he’s probably made up but which the officers, again being French, accept in a
`c’est la vie` fashion. Thus the tone of the episode is very laid back and
summery as a budding romance between Will and the Count’s daughter Eloise
blossoms inciting the wrath (well, the slight sneer) of her intended the Duke
de Sarlat. When Will rescues Eloise from drowning, even though it’s largely his
fault she falls in the water, the Count promptly invites him to stay and marry
her. Will looks shocked, possibly wondering how he’s going to manage to sing `Hey
Jude` at the wedding. Graham Theakston brings a hazy summer vibe to proceedings
but the overall impression is that while this chateau would indeed be a lovely
place to visit, it is a little early in the series for such a laidback episode.

Next week: Cheese rolling, “It’s a sort of chemin de brie” says Beanpole.

Episode 6: I now realise that Beanpole’s
approach to the story is about right. It’s a wonderfully French shrug mixing
resignation with a determination to make the best of it. He knows what’s going
on does Beanpole explaining to Henry (whose IQ seems to fall each week) that
Will and Eloise are in love. “It’s a sort of chemin d’affair” he nearly says. “Don’t
be silly” retorts Henry who is now behaving as if he is six. This episode is on
the whole tedious viewing. We remain in
the chateau with the tournament still on the horizon. There’s a frisson of
excitement when a Tripod turns up and bellows, but this seems to be more of a
yawn because it does nothing else. Presumably the inhabitants have left it
parked while they sample the wine.

After six weeks, the acting is getting worse if anything though it’s a race to
the bottom between that and the dialogue. There’s a scene where Eloise’s
spurned fiancée Sarlat threatens Will that personifies the issues the series
has. The acting is uncommitted, the script is dull and even the story- for
which of course none of the production team can be blamed- is meandering and
unconvincing. At the end Will is shocked
to discover Eloise is capped. Has he never noticed before? The camera man then
makes a run for it.

Episode 7: Huzzah, the
tournament has finally arrived and in contrast to the Victorian look of the
series, has a medieval feel to it. Events include knocking objects of the top
of a wooden pole, archery in which the arrow seems to set off a musical sting when
hitting its target and fencing while tied to a post. At least the assembled
throng have plenty of wine to pass the time which is more than we have. Some jousting
raises the stakes a little but there’s only ever mild peril - when someone’s
face is cut there is a gasp from the crowd. Director Graham Theakston does
create an impressive scene with a large number of extras and a big setting. You
can’t deny they spent money on this series, it’s just a pity the same focus was
not accorded the dialogue which remains perfunctory and expositional. Also
during lengthy scenes under the canvas party tent, you wonder why French
characters are talking in English amongst themselves.

You have to feel some sympathy for Will who’s to be married to Eloise one
minute only for her to be selected as the Queen of the Tournament by sneering
Sarlat meaning she is taken away- forever- by the watching Tripod. You’d think
someone might have warned Will this was coming though the viewer will have
spotted it. The ending is therefore strong with swelling synths as we get
Eloise’s view of her being raised above the watching spectators happy with her
fate as Will watches tearfully below. It’s the first truly dramatic moment the
series has managed since we arrived at the Chateau. Now hopefully Will can join
his colleagues walking across Europe. It should only take them another 1,346
episodes to reach the White Mountains.